View full sizeBrent Wojahn/The OregonianZuzu Hinds, 4, of Portland, feeds a goat pieces of dry grass as the animal grazes in a vacant, two-acre lot at Southeast Belmont Street and Southeast 10th Avenue. The goat is one of more than 50 hired to mow the overgrown vegetation in the lot owned by Vancouver-based Killian Pacific, a real estate agency. Hinds is one of hundreds of visitors to the lot since the goats were placed there two weeks ago.

Kathy Quigley has never had neighbors quite like the attention-getters that recently moved in at Southeast Belmont Street and 10th Avenue:

Goats.

About 50 were brought in to clear weeds from a two-acre urban lot, drawing hundreds of passers-by to stop for a peek, offer a hand-picked weed or pet the animals through a chain-link fence.

"I think one of the things that struck me was how starved people are for nature," said Quigley, who lives a few blocks away. "And this is kind of like bringing nature to us."

Vancouver real estate agency Killian Pacific had Goat Rental NW of Damascus deliver the animals. The idea came from Brett Milligan, a landscape architect, who was hired by Killian to tend the lot.

"They've been out here two weeks," Milligan said. "I thought things would kind of die down in terms of public interest, but it hasn't at all."

Milligan liked the idea of avoiding gas-powered mowers. But because Killian would agree only if it didn't have to pay extra, Milligan offered to count the goats and refill their water buckets for free.

"I'm getting paid in personal satisfaction," Milligan said with a laugh. "I was very interested in alternative practices, things you could make happen in the city. "

Georgina Stiner, president of Goat Rental NW, said using goats instead of lawn mowers is hardly new, but she's finding a growing interest in urban areas.

"We've had jobs off Powell Boulevard, a lot where there's a lot of construction where they can't really bring a weed wacker in," said Stiner, who started her business nearly one year ago and owns 170 goats that came mostly from shelters.

Lisa Walker, property manager for FC Services, LLC., which manages land for Killian Pacific, said that besides being green, the goats have a side benefit: "The digestive system of the goat actually causes the seeds to be sterile," she said. "Next year, we won't have as many weeds."

The lot was once home to a warehouse and the Monte Carlo and Lido restaurants. The buildings, vacant by then, burned down in 2002. Killian plans to develop the site after the economy improves, Walker said.

Meanwhile, the goats will stick around until Friday, guarded at night by security guards and frequent visits by Portland police officers, Stiner said.

Tuesday afternoon, 19-month-old Gwynedd Foulke, visiting with parents David Foulke and Jessica Goin, watched with wide eyes as she held pieces of long grass toward a small goat.